NEW YORK – Avian flu circulating in New York City’s handful of live poultry markets has prompted a weekly closure of local markets that week.
Officials and experts agree that the risk of avian flu to the general public is low. Most people won’t get meat containing chicken from the live market. However, a global concern from previous avian flu outbreaks is that the live poultry market is an important source of viruses infecting people and other animals.
“The market is clearly the biggest concern,” Stephen Morse, professor of epidemiology at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, told USA Today. Avian flu has not been identified in people who are sick in poultry markets or in New York, he said, “it’s a wise precaution.”
Preventive measures have so far been infecting more than 60 people across the US, and are a mild infection, mainly among agricultural workers, but in early January, older people in Louisiana are infected with the disease. The aim is to further spread the fact that one person has died. The virus is circulating among dairy cows, poultry and wild birds nationwide.
While US food is considered safe from bird flu, there are steps people can take at home, particularly to prevent the risk of heading towards Super Bowl weekend.
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Are your Super Bowl chicken wings safe?
If you cook it thoroughly, yes. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, clear, uncooked or undercooked poultry or beef, or unpasteurized milk, can become sick with a variety of illnesses.
However, cooking chicken and eggs to the appropriate temperature (within 165 degrees) inactivates bacteria and viruses, including avian flu.
At the same time, when preparing a Super Bowl platter, separate uncooked chicken from other foods cooked, whether or not. For example, do not place raw meat next to celery sticks that fit the wings of buffalo.
Is my eggs safe?
If you can find eggs in the store, or are willing to pay a high price, or cook thoroughly, it’s safe.
How about my milk?
Yes, purchasing pasteurized milk is a rapidly heating established practice that has been shown to kill viruses and bacteria. However, raw milk can carry bird flu. After consuming raw milk, several cats died of avian flu.
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Source of concern
People at more immediate risk said those who recently purchased live or killed animals from Morse Market in Columbia, and those who recently bought animals that were killed.
He pointed to the 1997 outbreak of Hong Kong’s avian influenza in the poultry market, the source of the virus. The virus then did not occur to communicate between humans, but local farm officials reported that 18 Hong Kong residents were infected and six died.
The outbreak was included by killing more than 1.5 million birds in the poultry market. However, the virus spread among Asian poultry and wild birds, and it was a regular occurrence.
Animals in live markets are often crowded, said microbiologist Mercy Peter Kelly, dean of the Kakos School of Arts and Sciences at Manhattan University. In the case of avian flu, chickens are particularly susceptible to infection and death.